Raising Readers and Writers

I had long stretches in the car this weekend as we drove my son for a college visit near Washington D.C. What was supposed to be a 7 hour drive from Columbus, Ohio, turned into a 10 hour drive as we came to a standstill several times and crawled along in traffic. I really didn’t mind though, because it gave me the opportunity to get some reading done.

One of the books that I was looking forward to reading was Franki Sibberson and Karen Szymusiak’s Day to Day Assessment in the Reading Workshop. When it was published in 2008, I was up to eyeballs in learning first grade curriculum after being in the intermediate grades for over 15 years. As much as I wanted to read it then, I just couldn’t add one more thing to my already saturated brain.

Now, as I’m preparing to teach to third grade, I am more than ready to step back into the role of teaching transitional readers and this book was the perfect way to reacquaint myself with these students. I have to be honest, as I read, it was like putting on an old pair of slippers…it just felt right…comfortable and familiar.   First of all, I love the authors’ philosophy…their instruction is based on their response to the needs of their students, not on a list of standards that can be checked off (although they do keep the standards in mind when planning instruction.) The introduction opens with the following quote which says it all, “Let us, with the ancient doctors, vow first to do no harm, and promise to resist measures that deprive children of their natural enthusiasm and exuberance as learners, their impulse to ask questions, to figure things out, to wonder, to express, to investigate, to construct, to imagine. Let us commit to a quiet contemplation of the idea that children are universally passionate learners.” ~Robert L. Fried, The Passionate Learner (2002)  Isn’t that what we all want; passionate learners who are excited to come to school, who are inquisitive, and thirsty for knowledge?

The book begins by stressing the importance of building an intellectual community where members come together to learn and everyone grows because they are a community of learners who support each other.  Building a strong community so important during the first 6 weeks of school.  It sets the tone for the rest of the school year.  Franki uses several different means to informally assess her students (reading inventories, status of the class, reading logs, and written responses to read alouds to name a few) during this time.  She wants her students to know that she values them as learners and readers before she begins to formally assess them.  It is also during this time that she sets up routines that let her students know that her room is a place where it is safe to take risks and all thinking is honored.

Each chapter focuses on one aspect of the reading workshop…independent reading, read aloud, whole class mini-lessons, small groups, and individual conferences.  Within each of these chapters, the authors give examples of assessments (both informal and formal), book ideas, questions to ponder, reflection sheets, recording forms, and student samples.  One of the (many) things I like about this book is that it doesn’t focus on what the most gifted readers are doing.    Franki and Karen are very honest in their portrayal of students that span the continuum we all have in our classrooms.  They use student misunderstandings as an opportunity to determine what needs to be taught next. They hold back from informing a student that her thinking is incorrect, but instead, use this knowledge to plan for instruction.

So, my copy of the book is peppered with colored sticky tabs:  pink for quotes I want to remember, yellow for ideas for charts, mini-lessons, and forms, blue for questions to think about, and orange for book ideas.  I have scribbled some book ideas in the back of the book…books I want to review before school starts and possibly add to my classroom library:  Katie Kazoo, Ivy and Bean, Clementine, and How to Steal a Dog just to name a few.  Tomorrow I will go down into my basement to delve into the tubs of books I have from teaching 4th grade to see what I can use in 3rd.  I can’t wait to dive into my new classroom to create spaces that will invite conversations among individuals, small groups and the whole class.  And another bonus?  I will be working with some of the same kids I had in first grade 2 years ago.  I already know them as learners and we will be off to a great start!

“Technology is not the driver, it only serves as a facilitator.” (Quote on Twitter today)

Tonight I feel a little bit like a kid at the fair…sights and sounds are whirring by, confusion abounds, excitement mounts, and I don’t know where to focus my attention. It’s a little overwhelming, very exciting, and somewhat daunting. Our teacher book club met tonight to discuss The Digital Writing Workshop. We all agreed that there is so much to think about and how do you know where to start? We are almost finished with the book and I’ve had quite a bit of time to digest the information and let it wander through my thoughts. I feel like I have a little better handle on wikis, blogs, and digital storytelling, but I still have so many questions that can’t be answered until I jump in and try some new things.
Some of the things I am thinking about…
How do I want to use 21st century tools in my classroom?
How do I choose what technologies to use first? I know that I can’t do it all, even though I want to.
What will my students need to know in order to be successful?
How will the use of technology enhance my students’ learning? When is it appropriate to use technology and when is it better to use more traditional methods?
How do I help my students understand all the facets of composition?
How can I use portfolios to illustrate student growth over the school year?
In what areas am I comfortable so that I can support my students’ learning?
Where will I need help from the technology teacher?
Will my students have access to needed equipment?
How can parents be actively involved?

I want my students to use 21st century tools authentically and purposefully. I don’t want to use technology to do the same projects I’ve done in the past. I want my students to be active decision makers in this process.

So where to start? I need to think about my goals for my students, look at the curriculum, and decide how to integrate it all together. My work this summer in the multi-modal class gave me lots of ideas for digital storytelling and I think I’d like to explore a class blog. I’ve been blogging for over a year now and I’m curious about how blogging can support my curriculum.

I’d be interested to hear from others about what they are doing with 21st century tools, useful websites, or how they’ve answered some of the questions I posted above. It’s going to be an interesting year as I journey down this path.

I was going to title this post, “I’ve got to warm up my bump,” but I didn’t know how that would go over! That was a comment made last week at my house where a group of teachers met to discuss Troy Hick’s The Digital Writing Workshop. We’ve been meeting since before school was out and it’s been a great opportunity to talk to others who have the same interests. We are from a variety of elementary schools and grade levels in our district and each of us has a different interest. We were sharing different ideas when someone mentioned a way to transfer pictures using the Bump app. Those of us with smart phones were downloading Bump and sharing pictures, which is when someone made the comment above. Even though there was lots of laughter and silliness at this point, we shared lots of good ideas. Each of us leaves the meetings with more to think about and new ideas to try in our classrooms that we wouldn’t have thought of on our own.

I’ve also been involved in a writing group led by Dr. George Newell this summer. It’s the first time I’ve been in a writing group and I highly recommend it for anyone trying to do any kind of serious writing. We are 4 teachers who taught at the summer youth writing camp and we each had our own agendas for writing. One teacher wrote an article about working with students from a rural school district, another is a new literacy coach who worked on professional development presentations, another was searching for a grant and writing a grant for the first time, and I am working on an article about the Family Oral History project. Again, this group was a mixture of teachers from different grade levels and school districts. I gained so much from this experience. First, we had deadlines, which was very helpful. More important though, was the myriad of ideas that we were able to present to each other. Since we came from different backgrounds, we each had a unique perspective and the feedback was invaluable. Having the expertise of George was an extra bonus. It didn’t matter what any of us was talking about, he was a wealth of information and suggestions for publication ideas.

Closer to home, a group of us from my school are meeting to read and discuss Catching Readers Before they Fall: Supporting Readers who Struggle K – 4. We have representations from kindergarten, first grade, third grade, and Title Reading. What makes this group so nice is that we can talk about the expectations for each grade level, things we’ve tried that work and don’t work so well, and it gives us a foundation to all be using the same language. I am a firm believer that in order for our struggling students to make the most progress, there needs to be strong communication between the classroom teacher and the support personnel. Sometimes, lack of time and busy schedules impede these communication lines, which is frustrating for everyone involved. These summer conversations give us the opportunity to share our beliefs and set some goals for the upcoming school year.

The beauty of these summer groups is that there is time to reflect, think ahead to the new school year, and learn from others you might not see during the school year. I appreciate the input that everyone brings to each group as well as camaraderie that has developed among old and new friends.

“Change is the essence of life.  Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.”

I packed up my classroom yesterday, getting ready to make the move from first grade to third grade, with mixed emotions.  I’m excited to be moving into new, yet familiar territory.  Third graders are not so different from fourth graders, with whom I spent 12 years of my life.  I can’t wait to work with some of my students that I had 2 years ago; oh the stories I had with that class!  It was one of those years that if you didn’t laugh, you would cry.

At the same time, I am sad to be saying good-bye to a wonderful team of teachers who have no idea how they impacted me.  Three years ago, I came to a new building, a new staff, and a new grade level wondering what I had gotten myself into.  I had asked for a change, but first grade?  What had I been thinking?  I didn’t know the first thing about teaching young children how to read or how to write.  My passion was helping struggling pre-adolescent readers and now I was going to be in charge of 6 year-olds, some of who didn’t even know all of their letters yet.

Three years of first graders and wonderful colleagues have grounded me in solidifying what I believe to be true about children and  what’s important in education.  I stepped way out of my comfort zone and in the process became more comfortable with who I am as a person and an educator.  I’ve reached goals that I never dreamed possible and I truly believe  working with young learners taught me more than I ever taught them. My first grade colleagues, too, supported me in so many ways and I will miss working with them on a daily basis.  I was very blessed to work with an amazing team last year…Woody who always helps me understand the big picture and  calms me down when I  get on my soapbox;  Anne, who shares so much in common with me…we  finish each other’s sentences, and Heather, a brand new teacher who brought a fresh perspective to our team.  She, like Woody and Anne,  has the special gift of a teacher’s heart.

So, third grade here I come!  More changes are in my future that will take me who knows where:  I have a new group of wonderful women to work with,  my family is hosting a foreign exchange student from India this school year, and I’m taking the first steps in beginning a doctoral program.

Change doesn’t scare me so much anymore.  I know that no matter what, I will learn, I will grow, and I will survive! 

Tomorrow, I will be taking 2 students to OSU so they can talk about their experiences as members of our after school writing club to the Columbus Area Writing Project Summer Institute. One of the main things they will be doing is sharing their glogs: the thinking that went into designing the glog, their choices in writing pieces, and their overall impressions of being able to work with a group of other students who enjoy writing as much as they do. Below are the glogs they will be sharing. You can see that they each tried some different techniques. Sarita used iMovie to embed into her glog. Colin created a collage of photography and recorded his voice reading one of his pieces. It’s sure to be a great afternoon and I can’t wait to take them there!

Windows to the World by Sarita

Strength by Colin

Well, I did not keep up with blogging each night and tomorrow is the last day of our Young Author’s Writing Camp. It’s been a great week! I’m busy making tie-dyed cupcakes for our writing celebration. The kids will spend the first part of the afternoon getting their displays ready, creating before and after posters, and writing some thank you notes. Working with 7 other teachers who love literacy has been wonderful. We each come with different backgrounds from high school to early elementary, public school and private school, but we’ve found that it’s been very seamless to integrate our ideas. And each writer, no matter the age has found something to write about each prompt.

So here’s the recap…Writing journey maps, Who am I as a writer?, “Arti” fiction, 3 kinds of journeys, Nested Meditations (more on this later…I’m intrigued with it), Newspaper blackout poetry (more on this too), J. Patrick Lewis, trip to Franklin Park Conservatory to take photographs and write about inspirations, guest teacher Lisa Sieberling shared ideas on how to integrate writing and photography, Renga (another type of poetry), Inksheds, and Photo Story…with a little glitch…it’s important to save as you go.

I’m anxious to see the kids’ before and after posters. June shared this idea based on Cardboard Testimonies, which you can see here. Our campers will complete one side of their poster with what kind of writer they were before camp and on the flip side, what kind of writer they are now.

I am so thankful that I was able to work with such gifted teachers for the last 2 weeks and such brilliant young writers!